Raleigh, N.C. — For decades, one coach after another has rolled through Atlantic Coast Conference schools in North Carolina, promising to do the same thing – build a wall around the state to keep in-state talent home.

While there have been some top players who enrolled at in-state schools, the narrative has been a negative one for some time. The top players routinely left the state for other ACC schools or even other conferences, like the Southeastern Conference.

Dave Doeren and his staff put together a solid in-state recruiting class last year. This year, the Wolfpack has gone all in.

So far, 17 of NC State's 21 commitments from the Class of 2019 come from high schools within North Carolina. Four of the players are rated as 4-star prospects by 247Sports.com. All others are 3-star players.

"I think it's really important that we all stayed home," said Wakefield High School offensive lineman Timothy McKay, whose brother, Matt, is already on the NC State football team.

McKay was the first in-state player from the Class of 2019 to commit to Doeren's Wolfpack, but he was far from the last.

This past summer, Heritage High School linebacker Drake Thomas also committed to NC State

"We all knew how important it was to stay home and, if we did stay home, how good we could be in the future," said Thomas, who also has a brother, Thayer, on the NC State team.

The 2019 class has already started to build a family atmosphere and it started on the recruiting trail. Shortly after Thomas made his commitment, he got to work recruiting other players, including Person High School's Joshua Harris.

"A week after Drake committed I went up to State and stayed for three days. (McKay) was up there a few days and he had talked to me, 'It's time for you to commit.' Drake did the same," Harris explained.

Immediately after Thomas committed to NC State, he told the media that he would be getting to work to help recruit other players. That's exactly what he did.

"Awhile back we even made a group chat and we kind of discussed where we wanted to go," Thomas explained. "We were all like, 'Do you like State as much as I do?' We were all agreeing that, at State, we could make something happen there."

Harris, who is rated a 4-star player, was talking to Thomas, but he wasn't ready to commit.

"I just wanted to wait it out, take my officials," he said. "I wasn't planning on making my decision until late, after football season ... I didn't feel about any place like I do about State."

That feeling, and with the backing of other in-state commitments like Thomas, led Harris to pull the trigger in July and make his verbal commitment to the Wolfpack.

Every coach at NC State – and other ACC schools – has tried to find the formula to keep players home, but Doeren's staff appears to have found a way that works.

"It's the coaches. When I'm there I get treated so good, better than anywhere else. The players there, I communicate with them. Recent players, they just put seven guys in the NFL," Harris said.

Thomas agreed with his future teammate.

"The coaches do a really good job of stressing being in-state. They stress to us all the time about what we could build and I think, like I said earlier, we all know it could be really special if we all got to stay in-state," said Thomas. "I think they just stress it more than the other schools do."

NCSU Football Recruits

The three NC State commits said the atmosphere that Doeren and his staff are creating at NC State is one that emphasizes family – the whole family.

"I think it's the family feel, that's very important for all the recruits. The family feel with coaches, being around players you know, that's very important," McKay said.

Harris said when he's at NC State watching practice or a camp, he feels at home already.

"I've been so many other places and that's what brought me there," said Harris.

Another key for the in-state commits, proximity to home. Each said it meant a lot to them that their parents and families could easily get to their games to see them play. For Thomas and McKay, it also meant their parents wouldn't have to decide which son to watch each weekend.Top 15 Football Recruits from Eastern NC (Class of 2019)Top 15 senior football prospects in eastern NC

They're also excited to be playing in front of the rest of the crowd at Carter-Finely Stadium.

"That's one of the big things for me because you go anywhere else in-state and it's not comparable," Thomas said.

"Especially if they're losing," added Harris. "I've been places where they're losing and fans leave, fans don't show up to the game because they know they're going to lose. That's one thing about State, their fan base is so loyal."

This class hopes to give NC State fans even more of a reason to be excited too. What do they hope to accomplish at NC State?

"Championships," McKay simply said.

"From conference to national, that's the goal," Thomas added. "I don't think any goal is set too high. I think we should be able to strive for those goals and we should be able to compete with the best of the best."

According to 247Sports.com, NC State's Class of 2019 recruiting class is ranked No. 4 in the ACC and No. 20 nationally already, but Thomas, McKay and Harris all say the class isn't done yet.

"The '19 class, I think we have a couple more additions that we're going to add into the equation," said Thomas. "We've only got a few more sports, but we're not done yet. We've got a few more kids coming.""

sweet. as we've talked about a ton...we've been spoiled a lot over the years at QB. counting finley, that's 5 NFL QBs over the last 18 years. we've also had some awful QBs over that time frame, of course...Evans, Stone, Beck, etc. kinda a feast or famine situation almost. but my point is, between McKay, Leary, and Hockman...i think we have to feel somewhat confident about the position going forward.

some people may try to say "oh this must mean the staff isn't confident in Leary or McKay". ignoring the fact that we were trying to add a QB in this class before Leary ever stepped on campus, i guess that could be true. but more likely it's that the staff wants as many options as possible. depth is important, and it's the most important position on the field...so you need to make sure you've got a good one.

^^ I was in my first year of residency during the 2013 season and didn’t have time to watch any games, which was a good thing. I have almost no memory of that season as a result besides checking the scores and seeing a lot of losses.

that was a bad bad season. nothing worth remembering. pete thomas was a transfer qb that year too...but he transferred in while TOB was here. so i guess you can put an asterisk next to him.

not that it means anything or is predictive at all...just interesting. every starting qb under DD has been a transfer qb. obviously mclendon (transferred out), mckay, and leary were recruited. jakobi meyers converted to WR. parham converted to TE. and bryant shirreffs and was also recruited, but maybe committed to TOB, i can't remember.

We have no 2019 commit and Finley is gone after this year, so we were either adding in a traditional transfer or a grad-transfer, no way we were heading into next season with 2-3 scholarship QBs.

Having Meyers and Parham switch positions really threw a wrench in our QB scholarship spacing, so this was always a year we were hoping to add 2 QBs(HS recruit and transfer).

I still think we'll be looking for a 2019 kid to add and I honestly wouldn't be shocked to see us take a post-grad option. I know we were definitely trying to land Hunter Johnson when he transferred from Clemson but it didn't work out.

Honestly, having 2-3 good QB options makes me feel a lot better heading into next season. I think it's Hockman's job to lose next season, though Leary will be right there.

From the little bit I've heard about Hockman, he has a great arm, good accuracy, and sneaky athleticism. He broke all sorts of GA passing records in high school and originally committed to UGA before FSU. He's also the son of a high-school coach (just like Rivers), so that's something.

I think the job is actually Leary's to lose to be honest. He has a year in the system learning from Finley and redshirting, he's already a better passer than McKay(per reports) but McKay has a big advantage physically and with legs.

A year with Thunder Dan should have Leary more prepared to compete next year and he has really good arm talent. I think Hockman has really good upside, but it's going to be interesting to see if he can pick up the offense quick enough to compete with McKay and Leary. Also will be interesting to see if Drink is still here or tries again this offseason to get a HC gig.

The interesting thing is that, depending how things shake out, we could be absolutely loaded at the skill positions next year(or just good) but still replacing 3 OL, so we might end up actually needing a mobile QB.

Hockman got hurt last year and that's how Blackman moved up to #2 on the depth chart.

This year you had a new coach coming in and you have an upperclassman with a 3,000+ yard season coming off an injury. Then you have a guy that started essentially the whole season last year in Blackman that looked OK at times behind a garbage OL. Then you have a RS-FR with no starting experience.

That wasn't a competition. Hockman doesn't fit what Taggert wants to do and starting veterans gives Taggert the best shot to win early. Hockman didn't have a realistic shot to crack that 2-deep unless he looked like Aaron Rodgers in camp.

Hockman has good upside, but I'm not banking on him coming in and taking the starting job. I think Leary is going to win the gig next year but I like the idea of competition and having quality back-ups.

The way Hockman left FSU seemed to reflect kind of poorly on him until we found out that Willie Taggart is an unmitigated disaster and he probably wanted the hell out of there after discovering his coach was an idiot

I'll reserve judgement on him. "Couldn't beat out X" arguments are fine and all, I recall making them about Jeff Driskel. Let's just see how the guy plays (or doesnt) once he's here

I don't think Hockman leaving reflected poorly at all, I'd counter that it actually showed his desire to compete and reach his goals and being smart enough to move on.

- He didn't have a realistic shot to win the starting job- Not only did he not get a chance to win the starting job, the coach put him last on the depth chart because of "starting experience" - Hockman doesn't fit what Taggert wants to do and Taggert is going to try and recruit "his guy" - Francois has 2 years of eligibility left and Blackman has 3, so there is a realistic shot that Hockman would only get a fair chance to start 1 or 2 seasons versus 3 somewhere else- He chose to go there with plenty of QBs on roster and he wasn't scared to compete, nothing wrong with being frustrated that you don't get a fair shot to win the job- The coach and OC he committed to playing for bounced on him

All of those are good reasons to leave. The guys he wanted to play for left, he doesn't trust the new coaches, and he doesn't like the system they're going to run.

He knows coming here he is going to have to beat out 2 guys but no incumbent starter, so it's a fair competition. I think he also sees that Doeren, in the past, has proven that he doesn't care who is on roster longer or who has more experience, the best QB will get the start. Doesn't hurt we're about to have our 5th QB in the NFL.

one of our few remaining targets, JR Walker from Clayton, is announcing Oct 12 at noon. seems like we have a really good shot at landing him. he's a 3* on Rivals and a 4* on 247. i think South Carolina is the main competition here.

I see Arkansas as the most likely destination as isn’t their new coach the former OC for Clemson? Auburn also seems likely as they’ll be losing their QB this year. Too much uncertainty at UNC, and besides their O-line is terrible.

I think their o line isn't as terrible as they seem. They are pretty good as run blockers, but get overwhelmed once the defense can start teeing off because UNC abandons the run because they get down by 20 points in the first half. They have really talented skill position players, too. A competent QB/leader would make them a dangerous team and Kelly Bryant is more than competent.

But yeah, I expect him to end up at Arkansas even though he was never at Clemson at the same time as Morris.]